Here's the letter Greta Gerwig wrote Justin Timberlake asking to use his song in Lady Bird

We all have a special relationship to certain songs that define our youth and Saoirse Ronan’s titular character in Lady Bird is no exception — and neither is the film’s writer and director, Greta Gerwig.

Last night, Gerwig stopped by Late Night with Seth Meyers to chat about the movie and just how personal it is to audiences. Some of those personal touches include music choices, like Justin Timberlake’s breakup anthem “Cry Me a River.” In order to get permission to use the song during a pivotal moment in Lady Bird, Gerwig personally wrote a letter to the music star (and fangirled a bit in the process).

“I mean, what can I say? You’re Justin Timberlake,” Gerwig read aloud to Meyers, “You were the soundtrack to my adolescence. Your rise corresponded exactly with my very awkward puberty.” And then, the writer-director added, it “just gets worse.” You can read the full letter below.

Gerwig also wrote to Dave Matthews asking if she could use his classic song “Crash Into Me” by explaining that it is “the most romantic song ever” and that she wishes she “could go back in time and tell my 16-year-old self that this moment was coming.”